On Wednesday morning, April 24, the Japanese was barely 9 meters short of crossing the magical 300-meter barrier.
“Setting a record in flight length has always been my dream. Another limit has been crossed, this time with my participation, which I am extremely happy about,” said the 27-year-old Japanese after making a record jump, during which he spent 8 seconds in the air.
They built a ski jumping hill in Iceland
The record is the culmination of two years of preparations, which began with the Japanese’s idea to build a hill enabling such a long flight. They looked for a suitable place for a long time and finally found it in Hlidarfjall Akureyri in the northern part of the island. A gently sloping hill with a maximum inclination of 36 degrees and a height of 1,115 meters allowed for the construction of a sufficiently long and safe landing area.
Ryoyu Kobayashi – breaking the ski flight record
© Red Bull Content Pool
Ryoyu Kobayashi – breaking the ski flight record
© Red Bull Content Pool
The record result was achieved after two days of test jumps, in which Kobayashi gradually jumped further and further until he achieved a record 291 meters. When leaving the threshold, it reached a speed of 107 km/h.
“The distance of 291 meters is very impressive, but it is not a surprise to me, I knew that the Japanese were planning such a project, because the record was one of Ryoyu’s dreams. He is a class athlete and can afford extremely long flights. The only thing missing was a properly profiled and safe ski jumping hill,” Adam Małysz, president of PZN, a legend of Polish ski jumping, told us years ago. “Ski jumping is an extreme sport in its DNA and whether we like it or not, records were only a matter of time. I think the World Cup can also follow this path, adapting mammoth ski jumps safely to even longer flights,” Małysz added.
If he were ever asked to break a record, would he agree? “I had such a proposal! The Austrians once had a similar idea and invited me to participate, they also wanted to build a special hill. But I was just finishing my career, my head was already a bit elsewhere, so I thanked him. But in the end, the idea was dropped and it was no longer possible anyway being implemented,” concluded “Orzeł z Wisły”.
Ryoyu Kobayashi – breaking the ski flight record
© Red Bull Content Pool
“It was a few crazy days, at the beginning we didn’t know what to expect from this hill, but it quickly became clear that getting close to 300 meters was possible. Great emotions and great joy,” summed up Janne Vaeaetaeinen, Kobayashi’s coach.
Ryoyu is a class competitor and can afford extremely long flights. The only thing missing was a properly profiled and safe hill
The record was not broken in a competition and is not official, so the International Ski Federation (FIS) will not take it into account in the statistics, but it does not change the fact that no ski jumper in history has ever jumped further and come so close to the magic barrier 300 meters.
Kobayashi was one of the best jumpers in the field this World Cup season. The Japanese won the Four Hills Tournament for the third time in his career and the competitions in Wisła and Trondheim. In the general classification of the World Cup he lost only to Stefan Kraft.
Watch Kobayashi’s jump on Red Bull Polska’s Instagram:
253.5 m Kraft – official record
The current world record for the length of flight in official competitions is held by Stefan Kraft and is 253.5 m. The Austrian set it in 2017 on a mammoth in Vikersund. Kraft then completed a phenomenal World Cup season, in which he became the world champion twice and won the Crystal Globe. He improved Robert Johansson’s result from the same competition by one and a half meters (252 m – the second longest jump in history in official competitions). The Austrian landed so far away that he barely stopped the attempt. There was even some debate as to whether he had touched the snow. The judges said no. And he remains the world record holder to this day.
In 2015, Russian Dmitry Vasilyev glided even further, to 254 meters, also in Vikersund, but he did not stop trying, so it is not treated as an official result. Just like the flight of Gregr Schlierenzauer, Kraft’s compatriot, from Planica in 2018 – 253.5 m. The Austrian also persevered in that attempt and is not included in the official statistics, although he was as happy as a child then.
251.5 m – Stoch’s Polish record
The Polish record is held by Kamil Stoch and was set in 2017 in Planica. 251.5 meters was for a moment the record of the legendary Letalnica, and is still the best result of a Polish jumper. Stoch also has the second furthest result – 248.5 from Planica in 2018.
See also how Adam Małysz taught Ryoyu Kobayashi Polish:
5 min
Adam Małysz and Ryoyu Kobayashi: Polish-Japanese phrasebook
Ryoyu Kobayashi teaches Adam Małysz Japanese and vice versa! If you want to know how to say “Fly, Adam, fly!”, “hill record” and “leaving the threshold” in Japanese – be sure to watch this video.
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Ryōyū Kobayashi
A World Cup champion and two-time Four Hills winner, Japanese star Ryōyū Kobayashi is already a ski jumping great and he’s just getting started.
